Tony Briggs

Tony Briggs has worked as a photographer and director for over 20 years. Originally from Sunderland, Tony moved to London after leaving the Newcastle College of Arts & Technology in 1985. His first break was working full-time for the BBC and Radio Times in 1988.Fired in 1989, Tony Briggs began his distinguished career in freelance photography. He spent most of his early career working for London magazines and record companies – fashion for Dazed and Confused and The Face, Portishead and Faithless for Independiente and Acid Jazz. Tony Briggs also shot the first major fashion stories for Loaded, helping kick off the Loaded phenomenon before moving into advertising and directing. Tony Briggs has had the Midas touch all along, doing the first portrait sessions for Sacha Baron-Cohen, Kate Moss and Jimmy Carr. They no longer return his calls.Still, many do. He has consistently shot some of the UK’s finest comedians, sporting heroes, musicians and actors and of course, his personal heroes, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene and kestrels.Numerous awards and commendations include the Northern Rock Building Society School Photography Competition 1979 (1st, 2nd and 3rd*) and more recently, London Photographer of the Year 2004. He’s been working his quirky and irreverent style with some of the world’s top performers.‘Tony Briggs body of work over the last twenty years represents a collision of iconic imagery that epitomizes how underground youth culture has now become the mainstream’.

Kate Moss Photography Circa 1992Originally shot for the FACE Magazine in 1992, these pictures of Kate Moss were shot as part of a hair fashion piece ‘Haute Coiffure’ for Fish Hairdressing in Soho. They were forgotten and lost in storage until found and printed for the first time for Tony’s FORTY exhibition in 2007. These shots, taken when Kate was still only 17 and ‘unknown’, marked the beginning of her meteoric career, and were the first to feature full studio make up and hair styling.